Let's start the new year right, with a ribbon cutting celebrating a new bike project - the PATH400! Dress warmly and bring your bike to celebrate the opening of the first phase of PATH400 - Friday, January 9th, 2015 at 11 am. This is a good opportunity for bike advocacy of the most enjoyable kind.
WHERE
Atlanta Tech Village Community Room, 3423 Piedmont Rd, Atlanta, GA 30305 (PEOPLE ON BIKES PLEASE MEET IN FRONT OF LENOX ROAD SIGN AT 11AM)
WHEN
Friday, January 9, 10:30 a.m. Ribbon cutting will take place at approximately 11:30 a.m. in front of the new BUCKHEAD wall along the Buckhead Loop
WHO
Civic and business leaders from around metro Atlanta will be on hand to celebrate the opening of the first segment of PATH400. The event will open at Atlanta Tech Village with remarks from Livable Buckhead Executive Director Denise Starling, Atlanta City Councilmember Howard Shook, Georgia Dept. of Transportation (GDOT) Commissioner Keith Golden and Atlanta Regional Commission Director Doug Hooker.
The group will then head across the street to the trail entrance on Lenox Road for the ribbon cutting. Representatives of the five organizations that have played key roles in the PATH400 project – Livable Buckhead, PATH Foundation, Buckhead CID, GDOT, and the City of Atlanta – will cut the ribbon to mark the trail’s official opening.
DETAILS
PATH400 is a new trail in Buckhead that runs along the spine of GA 400 and will eventually connect the area with a planned network of parks, as well as trails in neighboring communities, such as the Atlanta Beltline. Phase 1 – which is opening at the event – is a half-mile stretch that connects Lenox Road at Tower Place and Old Ivy Road. The new “BUCKHEAD” sign next to the Lenox Road entrance was also funded and built as part of Phase 1.
IMPACT
· More than 8,000 people live within 10 minute walk of PATH400, and another 44,000 are within a 10-minute bike ride of the trail.
· PATH400 connects two elementary schools, increasing the walk-to-school opportunities for nearly 1,100 students in grades K-5.
· PATH400 provides a critical linkage in a regional network of bicycle trails that is under development. This segment connects Sandy Springs, Alpharetta and other communities in the northern suburbs directly to the Beltline and more. Because of PATH400 a bicycle rider may be able to go from Alabama, through the City of Atlanta and on to Sandy Springs.
· PATH400 provides another way to get to work as well as an exercise option for nearly 100K people who live or work in Buckhead.
· PATH400 provides direct connections to two MARTA rail stations, one MARTA bus route and the BUC shuttle service.
· Including PATH400, Livable Buckhead has helped add 25+ acres of greenspace to Buckhead – the community with the least amount of greenspace in Atlanta.
· PATH400 leverages underutilized public infrastructure and reinvigorates highway right-of-way.
The Players
· PATH400 grew out of Atlanta City Council Member Howard Shook’s work to improve his district’s last-place ranking in terms of public greenspace. Planning funded by Atlanta Regional Commission and the Buckhead CID identified PATH400 as the spine of a community-wide network of parks and trails, the Buckhead Collection.
· PATH400 is a true public-private partnership involving nearly a dozen different entities. Of those, five organizations have played central roles in bringing this project to fruition:
o Livable Buckhead has been the project lead, and was responsible for design and public engagement.
o PATH Foundation is a significant project funder and is also managing PATH400’s construction and ongoing maintenance on behalf of the City of Atlanta.
o Buckhead Community Improvement District is providing funding and general support for the project.
o Georgia Dept. of Transportation has granted use of its right-of-way along GA400 to the City of Atlanta for PATH400.
o The City of Atlanta, provided funding for the initial project design and is the holder of the land for the project.
· Additional support has been provided by MARTA, Atlanta Regional Commission, NPU-B, Buckhead Coalition, Atlanta Police Department, North Buckhead Civic Association, State Road and Tollways Authority, Trees Atlanta and more.